Mojo by Tim Tharp YP FIC THARP

Dylan Jones wants 'it'.  Charisma, the x factor, that undefinable something: mojo. With mojo, you have power, respect, without mojo you have Dylan, a practical non entity with just enough friends to count on two fingers.  After he (literally) stumbles upon a dead body in a dumpster, and the richest girl in town go missing, Dylan figures his knack of being in the wrong place at the right time might just lead him to solve the case and maybe finding some mojo along the way.

Full disclosure: I picked this book up hoping it would be a memoir by Mojo JoJo.It wasn't, but dag-nab-it I ended up reading it anyways! It is one of a group of mysteries that takes the hard boiled style of the detective stories of Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett and transports them to a high school near you.  As a avid reader of those two-fisted who-dun-its I am a sucker for the gab and grit of those books thrown into a new setting.  Mojo does not disappoint.  It get's plenty hard boiled when our hapless hero happens upon some seriously out of his league criminality. Drug dealers, murder, kidnapping, private school gangsters, and class warfare all stand in the way of Dylan and his big scoop (and chance at some elusive coooool).  The book also has a serious humorous side as Dylan and his friends often crack wise (or crack stupid in his best bud's Randy's case) and find the funny side of crime and punishment.  It's like a bit darker version of the Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin (YP FIC BERK), which I loved. I will say that some of the close shaves Dylan gets out of are a bit fa fetched, but the book was so fun and fast paced I never really minded.  A great summer read for the mystery humor fans.

You can find Mojo in our catalog here.